When I Return
by fleets
Summary: VaatixZelda: Zelda confronts Vaati one last time before he leaves for his battle against Link. They both hide something deep in their hearts, but with the endgame approaching it may be too late to reveal their feelings. No longer a one-shot, the story will focus on Zelda's time in captivity in the Palace of Winds.
1. Goodbye

fleets: GASPETH fleets is _actually_ writing a Romance?_!_ And with VaatixZelda_?_! I needed a break from writing Rend (don't worry guys, I'm writing the latest chapter now and it's almost done, so I'm not by any means shirking my duties to finish that story). This is also an early practice for me before I get into my future future (i.e. after OA) monster of a story about the maidens, which this oneshot may or may not be a part of. Let me know what you think since I don't have much experience with this genre.

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**When I Return... :**

"Vaati."

Princess Zelda reached out her hand towards the sorcerer who had been getting ready to leave the palace. His cape flapped softly in the wind; she had learned that the breeze never really left his side, and there was always a small flutter of movement. The sorcerer stopped, and just barely turned his head towards the princess to acknowledge he had heard her.

She hesitated, dropping her hand and not really sure what she had meant to say. When had she become so… so timid? She could clearly remember when she had first been taken, no, that term was too kind, _abducted_ by the Sorcerer of Winds she had given every ounce of fight that was in her body to resist him. She was the ruler of Hyrule, champion of one of the three goddesses: she had a fiery fierceness and determination that comes with all of the responsibility that comes with those titles. But now…

Since when had she become so timid?

"Yes, Princess?" Vaati's voice cut through the air, his characteristic annoyance edging into his voice. At the same time, she recognized it not as an antagonistic annoyance, but an annoyance that comes from not knowing what it was that was clearly bothering her. He tended to be overprotective of her at times, and she recalled the week when he had spent his time never leaving her side, punishing any monster that dared to come too close. Since then, none of the monsters around the castle ever bothered her.

Zelda lifted her eyes to look at the sorcerer's face. His lavender bangs washed across the right side of his face, curving gently to the tip of his chin and hiding one of his ruby eyes. She sometimes embarrassed herself by how much detail she knew about him now. "You're leaving."

"Obviously," Vaati cracked a small smile and chuckled with wicked amusement. "What, is my presence so mind-numbing that even Wisdom becomes mortal?"

Ah, that infuriating cheekiness. Infuriatingly endearing at times, but infuriating nonetheless. Her temporary shyness vanished and she returned to her usual, headstrong self. "You know what I'm talking about, Vaati," she flipped her red hair over her shoulder casually as though she could care less, "this is the endgame, isn't it? You're going to…" she paused. Then she sighed. Try as she might, this was just one of those times she couldn't really keep her strong attitude. "You're going to die…" she finished softly.

Vaati, now turned to face her completely, stared at her for a few minutes without saying a word. A fleeting look of… was it hurt?... appeared on his face before it hardened to steel. Still, Zelda knew she saw it. Over the course of several weeks she had realized that Vaati hid so much of himself under a mask of ice, whether out of pride or perhaps even fear of ridicule.

She knew: he was afraid to appear weak to anyone. Even to her. Especially to her.

The sorcerer burst into laughter, hiding whatever insecurity he may have been feeling. "Ahahaha! What, you don't trust my power to be able to defeat the hero? You know what I am capable of. You should know that the hero is far outmatched." He walked over with his confident gait and smoothly wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Zelda pushed him away. In fact, she wanted nothing more than to remain in his embrace and trust that everything was going to be fine, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't trust him! She trusted him a little more now than she had at the beginning, but this of all things she couldn't trust him. At all. "No!" she cried, surprising Vaati by the forcefulness of her shove. "That's not true! He will defeat you, and you will not return from this fight alive!"

"Is that a threat, Princess?" Vaati arched his brows, and he took a small step back. He glanced at his wrist, which was still in the grasp of the princess who appeared to have forgotten to let go after her push.

"No! You don't understand at all, Vaati! Link is going to defeat you and you won't be coming back!" she continued, finally letting go. Small creases appeared along her forehead where there was tension.

Vaati's expression relaxed. Once upon a time he had heard those same words from the fiery princess of Hyrule, and once upon a time he had sneered at her. Maybe he had told her that she was going to learn to give up on the hope of rescue, or something horrible along those lines to crush that determination. Back then, he'd distinctly recalled how he had only really wanted her hand because she would be a pretty trophy to keep around the palace along with the other maidens he'd decorated the place with.

Now it was a little different, and he actually cared about the determination she had. After all, the palace would be dreadfully boring without her spirited attitude and he didn't feel like he had to crush her anymore. It had taken him a while for him to even admit that much.

So when he heard the same words he had heard way back when, he didn't sneer like he had in the past. Actually, even if he'd wanted to, how could he when those same words had been delivered quite differently? Instead of a rebellious tone condemning him to his defeat, Zelda's voice had been a plea to stay safe.

Or was it? He could never really tell with the princess, and for all he knew he might have been imagining things. But that was what he kind of liked about the princess anyway: she always kept him guessing.

"And how can you be so sure?" he asked with amusement in his voice. He grinned even more when Zelda looked at him straight in the eyes like she wanted to punch him for taking everything so irresponsibly.

"Because you're arrogant and impatient and never think through your plans well," Zelda's bottom lip quivered, perhaps out of anger, Vaati guessed. He'd gotten quite used to the angry Princess Zelda during her first few weeks here, though she'd calmed down after a while.

The sorcerer gave a sly smile. "Then, you see why we'll make the perfect team, don't you? Your wisdom and my resourcefulness – we'll take Hyrule by storm. Literally, too," he chuckled. He stopped when he thought he heard Zelda say something. She had barely whispered it. "What was that?"

Princess Zelda bit her lips until they nearly bled. "No," she finally said again. When she looked up, Vaati was startled by tears that were rolling down her cheek. The princess appeared just as surprised and also ashamed, and she quickly wiped them away. She hated how she was crying. It was so stupid to cry because she was angry at him. He was being so stupid, and it made her upset and angry and… "No, because you're so arrogant and impatient that you won't listen to me anyway," she finished sternly, and her hands fell to her sides as she gave up trying to dry her tears. Finally not being able to stand in front of the sorcerer while she cried, Princess Zelda swiftly turned her heel and retired to the depths of the Palace of Winds, striding away from Vaati with cold steps.

The sorcerer looked after her in genuine shock. He'd never had that happen to him before. Well, the crying part. Well, crying he'd dealt with, but not in that context. She'd looked at him with her bold blue eyes, her pink lips pouting with an expression that said she hated him. But it wasn't true hate, the expression that she'd had. It was a hate stemming from the frustration that he wouldn't listen to her; listen to her warning that he was going to die. That was the first time anyone had cried for him because he had made them worry. It was… weird.

Did she… did she actually care about what happened to him? He looked down at his fingers at the strand of red-gold hair that remained in his fingertips. "Hey Princess Zelda," he smiled softly at the piece of hair and then gently let it fall to the ground, "I suppose that was an 'I love you?'" His soft smile, tinged with a faint sadness, lingered even as he turned away and walked towards the balcony where his final fight awaited.

With every step he remembered how it had been, once. He would play the role of the forceful kidnapper, never taking into account what the princess felt, only his own wants to be officially wedded. They would be married and that was that. She would be his visible symbol that Hyrule was completely, totally his. Feelings had never entered his sphere of importance at all.

Since when had all of that changed? He wondered, as he took a step off of the ledge and into the sky. It had snuck up on them before either of them could recognize what was going on. It had been sudden and frightfully unexpected.

Love is a storm, isn't it?

Ha, foolish. Love was such an idiotic word…

Vaati floated up to where the four Links were waiting for him with their swords drawn. With an evil sneer, he whipped up a tornado, causing the sky to darken and lightning to crackle across the sky.

_Just you wait, Princess Zelda,_ he thought as his magic transformed his body into a monstrous, winged black eye, _I will return in victory against these heroes. _

_And when I do…_

_I want to hear those three words one more time._

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fleets: I have this image of FS (not FSA for this story - this is the Zelda that Vaati had kidnapped to marry) Zelda being hardheaded but with a hidden softer side. A tsundere? Anyways, neither of them openly admit they have a thing for each other and Zelda is in this grey zone of confusion since she _was_ kidnapped by a supposedly evil evil sorcerer who's out to get Hyrule but she kind of thinks he's awesome. Sucks to be her (kind of :P). Oh, and, she also used to like Link a little but now he's out to kill Vaati. And she likes him more now. Yeah, definitely sucks to be her.

Also maybe this should be in the Tragedy genre as well because we all know what's going to happen at the end when Vaati fights Link (i.e. bye bye sorcerer). He finally lets himself be open to the idea of truly warming up to the princess, but he never returns to open himself up to her. They are both forever in the dark (and I say both even though it's obvious to the rest of us because Vaati didn't get to hear the definitive 'I love you' either - he's only speculating).

Blaaaah I'm rambling. I'll shut up now. I hope you enjoyed this short piece that is kind of like a preview for Ornamental Girl  in the far far future ;)


	2. The Beginning

fleets: Dun dun dunnn. Hello there, and welcome back to this so-called 'one-shot' which I have decided will be a full blown story. I decided that OA is entering it's finish line and you know what? I'm going to need a genre break to help me get through it. Yes, I believe I am kind of exhausted writing adventure after adventure stories, and having something different would help me get more motivated to write OA better ya know? More details on why at the bottom. But before that, here, take this chapter.

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**Chapter 2: The Beginning, and That Insufferable Sorcerer **

_In the beginning there was hate. There was frustration. In the beginning there was that insufferable sorcerer._

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Tick, tock, tick, tock.

A princess watched the minutes go by on the extravagant grandfather clock in her room. She'd been sitting patiently at the mahogany coffee table for two about half an hour ago but now she was lying on the soft, rich bed, not really caring about how she would mess up her strawberry bronzed hair that had been carefully tied back. To the depths of Suburbia with it if she'd actually cared about appearance anymore.

Tick, tock, tick, tock.

Princess Zelda was getting pretty sick of hearing the clock tick by. She had patience for a lot of things, but after being forced to stay patient about everything for the sake of running an entire country, she was just about done with being patient on one of the worst weeks of her life.

She stared flatly at the dark purple and gold grandfather clock that continued to tick from across the room. Goddesses, how she hated the color purple. She didn't harbor the same kind of disgust for it a two weeks ago, actually. In fact, she used to think the color was quite nice.

Not anymore. Thanks to that purple-obsessed sorcerer who had decided he was going to forcefully marry her.

She sighed, somewhat heavily. She recalled what had happened two weeks ago at the Four Swords Sanctuary. She had summoned Link to come with her to the temple because she had sensed mischief afoot: a dark magical signature had gradually been growing recently, and she had suspected the seal on the sword may have been weakening. Turned out she had been right, but she'd realized it too late. When she had arrived at the sealing sword, the spells that had bound the evil inside had broken, ready to unleash its wrath across all of Hyrule.

Well… that was kind of true. What the evil had wanted wasn't total destruction but her hand in marriage…

Yeah, she hadn't really expected that.

The thing had been a grotesque eyeball of enormous proportions, with black leathery wings supporting it in the air. When those despicable black claws protruding from its side had forcefully grabbed her, lifting her helplessly into the air and declaring with glee that it was going to marry her, her stomach had sunk to the greatest depths of dread. Before Link could do anything, the thing had rapidly flown away to take her to its lair. She remembered how, during the whole duration of the flight, she had wondered just what a monster would gain from marrying someone completely unlike it. She was Hylian, it was a giant eyeball… just why would it want to marry her?

It was when they had arrived at the Palace that she had discovered that the eyeball wasn't _just_ an eyeball. It had taken her to the highest tower in the magnificent floating palace that she had learned was called the Palace of Winds. She could see all of Hyrule beneath her feet, miles and miles below. The white marble walls of the palace blended in with the cool, misty clouds that passed between its halls, and there was a liberating atmosphere to this place; it was the kind of place she could imagine the deities themselves would visit to escape the stress of running the world.

The eye had suggested she remain calm for her own good, and warned that she would most likely pass out from the thin air if she exerted herself too much. She hadn't listened at first, and she'd pulled and punched and yelled at it until she had begun to feel lightheaded. She'd conceded, but not without a good deal of glowering and giving it the most disapproving glare she could muster.

"As a well-mannered princess, I don't think that kind of expression suits you, my dear," the thing had rolled its eye in an exaggerated manner. Then, with surprising gentleness it had set her down on the tower balcony and then gave her a stern look, almost as though daring her to cause a ruckus. When she hadn't, the eye had chuckled, satisfied, and then with a small whirl it transformed into something smaller.

_Someone_ smaller.

It was a youth of indeterminable age, he could have been slightly older than her or much older, she couldn't tell. His expression was youthful but the light that glimmered from the sharp red eyes behind it was one hardened with years of experiences. And everything about him was purple; from his light purple tunic to his royal purple cape, to his occult purple sorcerer's hat to his lavender hair that hid the right half of his face…

Goddesses how she hated purple.

"Allow me to introduce myself properly this time. My name is Vaati, Sorcerer of the Winds," he grinned wolfishly with a small snicker. He also introduced her himself, making the whole process irritatingly redundant. "I believe you are the young princess of Hyrule? Princess Zelda, I presume. The Hylian royalties aren't very creative when it comes to names, I've noticed."

He'd reached for her hand then, bowing to plant a kiss, and then he'd jumped back with even more snickers as she had gone in to slap him as hard as she could. He had one of those irritating laughs that was childish, self-centered, and annoying. Zelda figured his whole personality could be condensed by the description of his laugh. "Ahaha! I had expected no less from my future wife! And now I must depart, dear," he'd taken a slight bow that was a little too deliberate to be considered sincere, and then took a hop on top of the balcony ledge, "I know you will miss me but I have far more important matters to deal with. I promise I will return for the day of the wedding." Vaati's eyes narrowed dangerously then, and it took all of Zelda's will to not back away from him or display any fear. "We'll have the whole night together, my princess."

She'd had no doubts then. The sorcerer of winds was an asshole and a pervert.

And, well, it had been two weeks since then without another word from Vaati. For the first few nights at the palace, she had been on edge, waiting for the next time he would arrive and do horrible things to her. She had come up with plans to escape the confines of her room, but the sorcerer had been diligent in making sure she wouldn't be able to use her Light Magic to find a means to get away. There was always an Armos sentry standing guard by the only door to the room, and considering the robotic guardians didn't tire or require sleep, it was nearly impossible to slip by them without being noticed. Additionally, there was always at least one small floating eye that watched her every move. Even though it seemed slightly bashful when she was changing her clothes or taking a shower, it obediently followed its master's commands to keep watch on her and report suspicious activity. It appeared to be capable of magic itself, and Zelda wasn't ready to test out how good it was in sorcery if it meant risking Vaati's personal attention.

And so for the first few days there, she had lost sleep from trying to figure out any way to outwit Vaati to escape his floating fortress. However, as days passed with no word from the sorcerer, she had actually begun to feel irritated. She had at least expected some kind of visit from Vaati to taunt her or get a reaction from her; she had figured him to be that kind of person when she had first met him. She thought he might do something like force her to go on romantic walks with him, to have dinner with him, anything! Why did she have to be kidnapped if he was just going to leave her to be bored, staring at the grandfather clock for at least a whole week?!

Trepidation had transformed to boredom, and then boredom to irritation, and finally irritation to fury. Vaati was going to answer to her today. Not tomorrow, not next week. Today.

Princess Zelda hopped off the bed, and straightened out the wrinkles in her dress. She whipped back the hair away from her face and whirled around to face the mirror in the room. She practiced her glare until she was satisfied that she was fierce enough. She may be a princess, but that didn't mean she only knew about being dainty and polite.

The sentry eye was hovering above her, following her every move. Keeping her glare in place, she raised her hands above her head and took a deep breath.

Here goes.

Light flashed from her open palms like blinding arrows, and they pierced through sentry that hadn't expected anything of the sort. It gave a faint squeak, and she had to admit that it would've made her feel guilty in a different circumstance when she wasn't so angry. The light dissipated along with the eye, and she stood still for five long seconds, waiting for something to happen.

Three.

Four.

Five.

"I really don't have time for this, love, I really don't."

Zelda whipped around toward the condescending voice that came from just behind her. Vaati had appeared, and he was lounging in the fluffy couch next to the grandfather clock. His arm dangled lazily across the side of the couch, and he looked at her tiredly. "Was there something you wanted? Besides leaving, of course, because that is strictly forbidden," he picked at his nails, giving off an annoyed air. "I can't imagine why you'd want to do that to my poor sentry unless you had something urgent you had to say. So make it quick, I am needed elsewhere."

Zelda clenched her fists. She hadn't really thought about what to say once Vaati had actually appeared. "I just wanted to blow off a little steam," she replied curtly.

"Oh, all right. If that's the case then I'll just leave a few hundred pots in the room so you'll have more things to smash. It'll be more satisfying than bullying my cute servants, believe me."

"Wait!"

Vaati, who had stood up to leave, looked over his shoulder slowly. "Yes?"

"I…" Zelda's outstretched hand recoiled. She mentally kicked herself for calling out to that bastard like some attention-starved puppy, but she wasn't about to be left here to live a mindless existence for who knows how long. It had been two weeks since she'd had human interaction, and even if it meant that 'human interaction' was having hostile conversation with someone she hated, she'd gladly prefer it over complete isolation. "What was the purpose of you kidnapping me?"

Confusion flashed on Vaati's face, and then he dismissed it casually with a wave of his hand. "Oh, right. Marrying you. Yes dear, I've got it all arranged. Meaning we're already married. Congratulations."

Now it was Zelda's turn to look baffled. "What?"

Vaati snorted. "Why, did you actually want a whole wedding ceremony? I really don't want to waste my time on such trivialities, and I'm not too keen on having to organize the whole thing if I don't have to." He yawned, bored, and then shrugged. "Look, dear, I understand it's every girl's dream to wear a white dress so if you really must, I'll have something you can look pretty in with the veil and flowers and everything sometime tomorrow. Maybe you can have a party with the poes? I myself will be busy in other matters."

"I… but that's… that's so irresponsible!" Zelda cried. She then realized her error when Vaati's mouth widened into a toothy smile.

"What's that? I didn't realize you cared about this so much, princess. Perhaps I can make an exception if you beg a little more."

Zelda trembled in fury, and she was so angry that she could just feel the moisture collecting at the corners of her eyes. She was being completely manipulated to do what he wanted her to do, and she hadn't been so completely beaten before as she had been just now. She bit her lip, drawing a little blood.

Well then, this was only the beginning. She wasn't going to let him have his way without a fight.

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fleets: So I have a not-so-secret to share. I've actually had this written out for a couple of months at least. Yes, I'd written it out and had refused to share it on this website because, well, I wasn't sure I was going to go through with this and I still wasn't sure if I liked the whole VaatixZelda thing. For those of you who have seen this before, please keep mum. I'd like to have the other location I posted as unknown as possible. Thank you.

BUT, thanks to a few recent updates by a fellow fantastic author who has just finished a really fun VaaZel fic (now that you've finished reading this you can head on over to Reily96's page and pick your poison :P) I was convinced that VaaZel is my new it. I was 80% convinced before, I'm 90% convinced now.

Anyway, HEED THIS WARNING RIGHT NOW: this story is going to be so full of hiatuses that you might find yourself wanting to stab me for not updating. I predict this will get better once I'm done with OA (which won't be too far off I hope), but just throwing that out there. Also, unlike my other stories I jumped into this with little to no planning whatsoever, so I might actually have some writer's block. Maybe. Cross my fingers I don't, but the possibility is there cause I'm just floundering around in the dark. At the very least, I have the beginning and the end, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

Well, that's enough talking. Goodnight!


	3. Free Prisoner

fleets: OA has reached the point where I need 100% focus for every chapter, every page, every paragraph, every sentence, because it's where everything gets complicated, so I am giving you guys a kind of double-update present (1 for OA, 1 for this).

I am actually pretty excited about this story now. I have a plot I like for it, like really, really like for it. Whether or not I pull it off is a completely different deal altogether, but I hope I do.

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**Chapter 3: Free Prisoner**

Vaati gave Zelda a smug little smile, enjoying watching the princess squirm as she tried to come up with a response. This infuriated the princess more, and she wanted nothing more than to beat the crap out of that grin, but she figured the sorcerer would stop being as civil to her: Vaati _was_ an infamous wind mage for a reason. Zelda's hands rolled into fists. She wasn't going to be left here like some decorative piece, but she also wasn't going to beg the bastard to arrange a wedding. Farore damn it all she definitely wasn't going to be doing that.

Zelda mentally sighed to herself. Vaati had been right in that he brought out the worst in her, especially in matters regarding lady-like conduct. He certainly didn't deserve a lady and to the fiery depths of Death Mountain to it all if she was going to be one for him. Still, she figured she shouldn't get used to this if she was ever planning on going back to being the honorable princess of Hyrule.

"Then why," she asked slowly, "did you promise you'll return for the wedding?"

"Oh did I say that? I don't remember that at all. You women have such specific memories for the most trivial things," Vaati drawled as he walked back and draped himself over the couch.

Zelda's eyes narrowed slightly. _Misogynistic pig._

Vaati continued, tapping his chin with a slender finger thoughtfully. "If I did say that, I imagine I said that to get a reaction out of you. It _is_ a dramatic phrase, isn't it? I imagine it was extremely entertaining. Maybe your cheeks blushed up like a cherry, kind of like what it's doing now, actually. Except instead of that ugly scowl you have now I bet you had a bit of fear in your eyes. Fearful with a blush, that's exactly how I like you princess," Vaati chuckled to himself with a savage smirk.

Zelda's voice turned colder with each word. She wasn't exactly an angry type of person, usually, and not many people could really push her to fury. Vaati probably managed to make it on to her very selective and special list of 'people who can make her extremely angry' in an unusually short period of time. "What do you even gain from locking me up here? You might as well have killed me and been done with it, and no one would know the difference."

Vaati whistled, peering at her from under his bangs. "Wooow, princess you have much darker ideas than I do. Kill you? Well I guess I learned something today about how you royals treat guests. Remind me to fix that when Hyrule is completely under my rule: despite popular belief I actually _don't_ enjoy having to clean up a smelly pile of dead bodies."

"You know that's not the point of my question!"

The sorcerer leaned forward and gave her a long stare. "Are you really that dense that I have to spell out for you why claiming you as my wife will benefit me, as well as you, in the long run?"

Zelda crossed her arms over her chest and looked back at him defiantly. She was too upset to be unassertive at the moment. "I understand," she replied venomously, "that your intention was to demonstrate a power play by holding me captive. What I don't understand is why you insist on calling it a marriage when I'm no different than an ordinary captive."

Vaati shrugged. "Heh, well I figured you'd like the preferential treatment since you're a princess and all, your highness," Vaati replied, sarcasm just laced into every word.

"_This_ is your idea of preferential treatment?_!_"

At this, Vaati stood up abruptly from the couch and strolled over to her in three, heavy steps. Zelda, who had previously been pointing at him accusatorially faltered for a moment when the sorcerer approached her with a menacing intention. She tried to gather up her courage again to stare the sorcerer down, but the way he looked at her now made her afraid that she had taken it too far. She didn't really know what he was capable of if she actually made him snap, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to deal with it yet.

Before she knew it, Vaati had backed her up against the wall, pressing his hands on both sides of her head and effectively pinning her in place. The only sound in the room for a while was the slow ticking of the grandfather clock and their level breathing. The way his expression was cold and severe clearly let her know that she had pushed her luck too far…

Finally, after an uncomfortable and deadly silence, he leaned forward right next to her ear and gave a whisper that sent the hairs along her neck crawling. "I've done a lot for you and I don't appreciate you talking back to me like this," he backed up so that he could gaze into her eyes with that frightening red glare, "do not do that again."

It was completely different from his earlier, somewhat lazy and careless demeanor. It had come out of nowhere, and no one could have predicted his personality switch. This new personality was perhaps the real one that was concealed behind the less threatening one. Zelda held her breath, and although she was ready to endure whatever wrath he may inflict on her she couldn't deny that she was afraid. She didn't know Vaati well enough to know just what he was capable of, and if he really was the insane, power hungry evildoer that the stories painted him out to be, then she doubted she would ever be able to predict his limits.

At the same time, she knew Vaati was getting a kick out of seeing her afraid, and that made her incredibly upset.

The Sorcerer of Winds pulled back, seemingly satisfied that he'd seen the hint of fear in Zelda's face, and then strolled back towards the Armos statues who were standing guard by the entrance of the room. He ran a hand over the stone heads and cocked his head towards the princess with an air of superiority. "I believe there's a misunderstanding, princess. Do you realize that these guards are not here to keep you in, but here to keep other things _out_?" He smirked when Zelda gave him a skeptical frown. "Contrary to what you may believe, you're not a prisoner, princess. It is only reasonable that I protect my own wife from harm, is it not?" He held up a hand when Zelda opened her mouth in protest. "If you still think I'm the bad guy here, feel free to roam the palace. These statues won't hurt you." He snickered as he walked out the room, waving his hand over his shoulder and leaving Zelda standing alone in her room, flabbergasted. "Don't make me say 'I told you so' if you do get hurt wandering the palace, princess."

For some time, Zelda continued to stare after the empty space where Vaati had been. Once she was sure that he was far away, she let herself sit down on the floor and take in everything that had happened. Another eye-bat sentry had reappeared, taking the old one's place and hovering above her head.

What had happened just now, the entire conversation, was not something she had expected at all. First off, Vaati had captured her because he wanted her to be his wife, and yet after two weeks he'd left her alone in her room like a normal prisoner, not once coming by to check up on her. And while it wasn't like she actually wanted him to bother her, the fact that he seemed like he could care less about her really got on her nerves. Like if you were going to go through all the trouble of forcefully marrying someone then you should at least act like you cared!

Second, Vaati had indicated that the Armos statues weren't there to keep her trapped in her room. She hadn't actually tried to see what would happen if she walked out, and she'd always just assumed that the statues would attack her as soon as she took one step out. Assuming that the sorcerer wasn't lying, and ignoring the fact that he probably _was_ lying, the statues wouldn't actually attack her and therefore she was free to walk around the Palace of Winds as she wished. But nooo, that was too good to be true. Vaati would have to be stupid to allow something like that: if she was free to go wherever she wished, she had a chance to maybe find some way off this place and escape. There had to be a catch. She couldn't actually walk out of her room like nothing was wrong.

Could she?

Zelda stared at the pair of Armos Statues by the entrance of her room wonderingly. Her features lit up as she realized she now had a possibility of escape if what Vaati had said had been true. The princess clenched her fists.

Tomorrow, she was going to leave this place.

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Zelda woke up early the next morning, just when the sun had climbed over the horizon. The air was still cool, and the early morning clouds were still passing through the palace corridors, leaving droplets of moisture on her skin. She quickly dressed herself, finding the least inhibiting wear from the closet. They were all fancy dresses, unfortunately, but she managed to find a lavender one that was loosely fitting instead of puffy dresses or worse, ones with corsets. She took some liberties and tore up the bottom with the edge of a mirror she'd broken, so that she could move her legs more freely. She slipped off her shoes so as to reduce the sound of footsteps, and carefully walked up to the edge of the exit of her room, right by the Armos statues.

She shot a small glance at the bat sentry that still followed her every move. She knew that Vaati could see what she was up to if he really wanted to and there was nothing she could do about it, but she hoped that since it was early in the morning enough he'd have less incentive to wake up just to watch her. The sentry might alert him anyway, but it didn't hurt to try.

Zelda took a small step just past the two statues standing guard, and she watched them carefully, wondering if they'd stir. Neither of them moved an inch. The princess let out a small sigh of relief, only just realizing she'd been holding her breath nervously when she'd taken that first step. Less fearful now, but still expecting Vaati's promise that the statues wouldn't attack her to be a distasteful joke, she took another step past the statues. Still nothing.

_So Vaati's claim that the statues weren't there to keep me in was true? _Zelda pondered. _But then what are they there for? _

A small sliver of sunlight hit her cheek, and she looked up sharply towards the sun that had crept through the tall arching pillars. Time was passing quickly, and she had to move quickly before _he_ decided to pay a visit.

Oh how she wished she knew how to warp long distances! She'd seen Vaati do it before, with his wind magic and all, but that was completely different than the Light Magic she was familiar with. Magic was rare among Hylians, and even though she could cast some powerful spells she was nowhere near as capable as the Sorcerer of Winds. Regarding warping, the most she could do was to warp short distances as an evasive maneuver. If she'd been able to warp the way Vaati could, she could have escaped away long ago.

No use wishing for things now, though. Zelda quickly surveyed her surroundings, and decided to make a run to the right, which led her away from the central area of the palace. She hoped that maybe, near the ledges, she could find some way down from the clouds.

She was also afraid she'd run into Vaati if she made her way to the heart of the palace. That just wasn't on her top ten places she wanted to be right now. Or ever.

Zelda's confidence grew with every step she made it away from her room. If only she'd figured out she could leave before, she would have explored the palace earlier instead of waiting aimlessly in her room for two weeks.

Goddesses she hated that purple twat. He must have found it so hilarious that she'd been sitting in her room obediently all this time, even though she could have strolled out any time.

She made it to one of the balconies overlooking the clouds, and she peered over the edge of the elaborate stone railings. The sun cast its orange rays through the clouds, the light scattering in a beautiful glimmer on the pillars and arches poking through the sky, giving the palace a golden glow. In one of the distant areas of the palace she could make out some kind of garden with ivies and flowering vines. She had to admit this place was… amazing. She would have actually appreciated it if she hadn't been forcefully brought here by a crazy, probably murderous, asshole.

A soft clatter of bones caught Zelda's attention, and she froze, clenching the edge of the railings tightly. She slowly turned around, and noticed a skull floating next to her, a few feet away. It was a Bubble.

"Um…" the princess backed away slowly. Some more Bubbles had gathered around, as well as the full skeleton soldier Stalfoses. Zelda became nervous at the sudden group of monsters who had gathered around.

"GrrAARoaororrrarro!"

"Aaah!"

Zelda jumped back as the Bubble closest to her burst into blue flames without warning, flying towards her with a terrifying wail. The other skulls also burst into flames, either a hot red or icy blue, and began to chase her down with haunting howls. Screaming, Zelda ran back to the palace with the monsters close on her heels. Something struck the back of her left leg, and she cried out in pain as her legs buckled under her and she fell across the marble floor. Something else struck her back before it clattered away: a Stalfos had thrown a heavy bone at her. Zelda winced, trying to ignore her leg that was beginning to bruise, and looked behind her shoulder. Another Bubble was closing in on her, its teeth chattering as it glowed a bright blue from its fire.

Zelda gritted her teeth and she picked herself up, grabbing one of the bones that had hit her off the floor. _I am so done with this. _

"Yaaah!"

_Crash!_

Zelda swung the bone as hard as she could towards the Bubble that had charged at her. It connected cleanly with its jaw, and there was a loud crack as it was sent flying into the group of monsters chasing her.

While the monsters were slowed down, she ran back to the last place she thought she'd go; back to her room.

Just as she ran past the Armos statues, they sprang to life, red orbs glowing from within their stone helmets. The ground shook and rumbled as they activated, and right when the first of the skeletal monsters reached the entrance of Zelda's room, a scorching line of burning crimson shot through their ranks. Several of them dropped lifelessly onto the floor after the lasers hit them.

Zelda peeked over one of the statue's shoulders, and saw that the group of monsters, who had moments before been chasing after her, had become hesitant. They were eyeing the Armos statues fearfully, and they huddled together, wondering who among them was brave enough to make a break past them. Eventually, they decided it wasn't worth it and sullenly went back to where they had come from.

The princess allowed her breathing to slow, but not before her breath hitched from seeing a familiar, unwelcome figure staring at her from near the ceiling a little ways away. Her face contorted into a frustrated snarl, and she turned her heel swiftly, her tattered dress swirling behind her with an angry snap. Vaati was lounging against one of the curved supports of the ceiling, dangling his feet lazily over the edge and watching her with an amused sneer. His toothy smile sent her a clear message, "I told you so."

He'd been watching the whole thing, no doubt.

And it upset Zelda even more that he had done nothing except watch and laugh at her failure from a distance.

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Vaati strolled through his palace with a cheerful gait. These past few weeks he'd encountered so many frustrations that the eventful, entertaining morning was a pleasant change of pace. He'd been mildly surprised when the princess had sought his attention yesterday in the most violent manner (poor sentry), but at the same time he'd expected her to break soon after he'd left her alone for so long. He'd suspected the latest princess of Hyrule was a feisty one the moment he'd escaped his prison; the instant he'd caught her in his claws she'd snapped her head around, her fiery red-blond hair whipping around her, and she'd given him one of the fiercest looks anyone had ever dared to give him. It was a look that made sure she'd etched every feature of her captor to memory, so that one day she could bring justice to the one who had dared kidnap her.

The fact that she had managed to give him such a terrible glare while he was in his ultimate demon eye form had impressed him as well.

To be perfectly honest, before she'd given him that look he'd been planning on removing her from the picture completely by turning her into a statue, or tossing her off a cliff. He'd even given cliff-tossing a serious thought, since simply cursing her would have the risk of someone managing to break the curse. Throwing her off a cliff to certain death was much better to insure she didn't come back within the next decade to become a nuisance. He'd had a lot of time (a stupid long amount of time) thinking about what he'd do with the next Zelda incarnation he encountered while he'd been stuck in that blasted Four Sword; cliff throwing had been one of his top solutions.

But then she'd given him that look. It piqued his curiosity. This girl, even though she'd been in a completely disadvantageous position, thought she still had the power to threaten him.

He wanted to know more. What would it take for her to finally break down and become someone plain and boring, someone who didn't have that ferocious spark that allowed her to fight back? How terrible would he have to be to completely tame that defiant spirit and have her obey his every word?

And so he decided he'd marry her. It didn't mean he was actually going to have a respectful marriage-like relationship, oh Din no. He didn't have the time nor the patience for that sort of thing. It was more of a… status thing. He'd have Hyrule literally when he'd crushed all opposition in the region, and he'd have Hyrule symbolically when he'd bound its princess with a damning ring on her finger. It was such a fantastic idea he didn't know why he hadn't thought of it sooner.

When he'd paid her a visit yesterday, he was sure he was going to be entertained in the next few days to come. He couldn't praise himself enough for his brilliant idea to let her know she was free to wander the palace as she wished. She didn't fail to amuse him the very next day in her attempt to escape.

As soon as his sentry had alerted him to unusual behavior from Zelda this morning, he'd quietly teleported just outside her room, out of sight, to see what was going on. He hadn't really expected her to wander off so soon; he'd expected a sheltered princess to maybe deliberate her situation for a few days before walking off to something potentially dangerous. She'd proved him wrong, and with determination (but not recklessness), she'd made a swift exit out of her room.

He could have helped her when she'd been attacked, sure, but it was much more satisfying to watch her struggle. The monsters that resided around the palace, although they did answer to him, would not be friendly to the princess of Hyrule. He knew they would attack her on sight, so he'd placed the Armos statues by her room so they wouldn't be able to get to her. Without them, or him, to help, Zelda would have to fight against the horde of the palace residents if she wanted to get anywhere.

And that was exactly what had happened.

This morning was probably the best mornings he'd had in a long time. The princess would have to acknowledge that he wasn't technically keeping her prisoner and that he was (and this was the best part) actually keeping her from harm, _but_ she was effectively still a prisoner because she couldn't leave her room without getting attacked by monsters. The scenario was just so perfect.

"Lord Vaati. The moblin chief has rejected your orders to cease activities in West Hyrule field." A Stalfos caught up to him in the hall to give him the news.

Vaati's smile momentarily dropped as he rolled his eyes tiredly and waved the skeleton away. His past few weeks had been filled with nothing but aggravating political nonsense, along with Link running around and causing trouble everywhere. He deserved a break.

For now, he was going to enjoy remembering the way the great princess of Hyrule had helplessly scurried back to her prison, with the knowledge that her very captor and prison warden was the one who was keeping her 'safe.'

* * *

fleets: I've seen a few variations of Vaati in what few VaaZel fics are out there. I've seen the horrendously evil version to the sappy emotional mess who tugs at Zel's heartstrings. I admit I can write neither of those extremes because they require serious guts, balls, and ovaries to write them (of which I am lacking... wait).  
I totally respect the people who can pull it off, because whenever I try I just cringe looking at the words on my word processor from the pure garbage I managed to write (I can't do it. Can't). So I know in game canon there's some reason to believe Vaati can be that godawful evil (I mean he's like the only villain who can actually succeed in killing Zelda), but because I can't write him that extremely evil without puking all over my computer I hope I can still maintain the canon illusion and write a believable Vaati.

Also, Zelda. I like the idea of a fiesty, hot-headed strawberry blond/red Zelda who won't take anyone's poop and if I squint hard enough Four Sword Zelda's hair starts looking reddish. So yeah. I'm sticking with that. Also partly inspired by Tetra's huge attitude and she's Zelda too so...  
Yeah whatever my logic makes sense let's fly with this alright

**Guest: **Kisses are welcome, though I warn you I'm kind of a sloppy kisser (I am not sorry)

**Mystique Luna Tique: **Yup! It's a nice break for me, too. Now that I finally have a solid plot I actually like I'm pretty excited about this one.

**DarkSakura2256: **I actually really hate romances too, but now that I've given this more thought than "oh hey, let's randomly write a VaaZel!" I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone. :)

**Guest...2?: **I am just going to call you Guest 2. Because there are multiples of you. And each and every one of you are awesome because Guest 2 you just gave me my most favorite snacks ever: COOKIES! Anyhoo, thank you for liking it so far I'm glad some of you enjoy it :D

**Guest3(?): **Vaati is terrible is all I can say. But that's why I like him so much (don't worry Zelda will have opportunities to knock him down from his pedestal eventually).

**Reily96: **At first I was so terribly lost. I rarely (i.e. never) start a story without a complete outline, and that's basically what happened here. And it was a genre I have no practice in to top it off D:

But now I've got a story idea, and actual plot besides the 'let's hook these two up yah.' I blame you for getting me into this XD


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